The present invention relates to a sauna cabinet, and more particularly to a foldable sauna cabinet that is collapsible to occupy largely reduced space when the sauna cabinet is not in use and is absolutely safe for use without the risk of burning a user.
The currently available household and commercial sauna cabinets can be divided into two major types, namely, oven type and steam type, based on the heat source generators equipped with the sauna cabinets. The oven-type sauna cabinet is equipped with a hot-air generator that supplies hot air while the steam-type sauna cabinet is equipped with a steam generator that supplies hot water vapor.
A conventional oven-type sauna cabinet is in the form of a steam cabinet in which a user may sit or lounge. A hot-air generator is mounted to a bottom of the steam cabinet to supply hot air into the whole cabinet. Hot air in the sauna cabinet sweats the user and is therefore beneficial to the user's metabolism and fitness. A disadvantage of such conventional oven-type sauna cabinet is that the hot-air generator, which is an electronic apparatus and mounted at the bottom of the cabinet, tends to become failed under the high-temperature working environment. And, it is not easy to repair the failed hot-air generator when it is mounted in the sauna cabinet.
A conventional steam-type sauna cabinet, such as that shown in FIG. 1, is also a steam cabinet 1 suitable for a user to sit or lounge therein. A pipe 11 extends from one side of the sauna cabinet 1 to a steam generator 2. An end of the pipe 11 inside the sauna cabinet 1 forms a spray nozzle 12 as shown in FIG. 2. The spray nozzle 12 is in the shape of a sector with a number of radially arranged steam spray holes 13. The steam generator 2 supplies hot water vapors into the sauna cabinet 1 via the pipe 11 and the steam spray holes 13, so that the sauna cabinet 1 is fully filled with hot steam to sweats the user. The hot steam also keeps an interior of the sauna cabinet 1 at a high humidity to help the user's metabolism and fitness. A disadvantage of the steam-type sauna cabinet 1 is that hot water vapors produced by the steam generator 2 are directly sent into the sauna cabinet 1 via the spray holes 13 on the spray nozzle 12. That is, there is not any shield between the spray nozzle 12 and the user in the sauna cabinet 1. Since the spray nozzle 12 is located at one side of the sauna cabinet 1 generally pointing toward the user's waist, the hot water vapors that are collectively and directly blown against the user's waist are prevented from diffusing quickly in the sauna cabinet 1 and tend to dangerously burn the user.
FIG. 3 shows an internal supporting frame 14 of the conventional sauna cabinet 1 that is covered with an outer cover 15. The supporting frame 14 is usually made of metal pipes that are not only expensive and difficult to machine and assemble but also bulky and heavy to cause difficulties in transport and storage of the sauna cabinet when the same is not in use. Moreover, the metal supporting frame 14 is a good thermal conductor. When the sauna cabinet 1 is in use, the supporting frame 14 tends to absorb heat and produces high temperature at its surface and would therefore possibly burn the user. In the event of an electric leakage, the supporting frame 14 would even very possibly cause a dangerous electric shock.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a foldable sauna cabinet that occupies only very small space after being folded and is provided with means to eliminate the danger of burning a user.